Skiing Update

Our family has been doing a ton of skiing.  We have already more than paid for our season passes.  Soren and Svea have been 6 times – kids day passes are $39 so it would have cost $234 and the season pass was $119.  Ashley has been 8 times, adult day passes are $86 so $688 and we paid $289 for the season pass.  We still have 3 months left – hopefully.  The snow has been horrible! Everything was able to open after two good December snowstorms, but we have had nothing for 3 weeks and temperatures have been in the high 40s and lower 50s.  Went today and needed no long johns, and it was still hot.  The snow was slush and the cover was thin.  It felt more like April skiing than January.  We may get some moisture next Sunday, but not sure how the slopes are going to look after another week of these high temperatures.
The highlight was last week when we went skiing on the Wednesday the 31st, Thursday the 1st and Saturday the 3rd!  Skiing 3 times in 4 days – that’s how life should be. On January 2nd (Liv’s B-Day) Svea said “We didn’t even get to go anywhere today.”  I asked “Where did you want to go?”  “Skiing” she replied.  All the kids are hooked.  They really enjoy it.
The kids are progressing really well.  Basically since the second outing, Soren and Svea have been able to ski with no assistance.  They can make it down the mountain themselves.  Very different styles. Soren obviously is very cautious.  He does not like going fast, but is very interested in the terrain parks and jumps.  Tells me “Dad, I am going to go hit the freestyle park.”  Svea is a rocket.  She does not wait.  Off the lift and if you don’t tell her to stop she is gone.  I caught up with her last week and said “Svea, you have to wait for Soren, Liv and Mommy!” She thought about it and said “Why?” Good point.  Last week Soren thought it was time to go do some blue squares.  Svea pointed the skis downhill and went. I could ski with Svea all day – she is fast and fearless. Soren wigged, freaked out, laid on his back and then unclipped his skis and slid down on his backside.  Still, at least he tried and he did make it down.
Here are two videos from their 2nd outing.  Our season passes give us 3 free days at 10 other resorts in the west.  One of them happened to be Snowbasin, so we were able to ski over Christmas break on our visit to Utah.

Liv has two ways to get down.  We bought some straps that fit around her ankles.  Ashley can slow her down from behind and keep her in control.  This is the best way for her to learn, but it is slow.  Liv also gets tired pretty quick doing this.  We usually give her one or two runs, but then she is done with them.

The other way is by hockey stick.  It’s great.  I can ski snowplow style and Liv just holds on.  We can go pretty fast.  If she stumbles, she just holds onto the hockey stick and I can keep her from falling.  We are next to each other and basically she is my cheer section the whole way down the hill. “This is really great skiing Dad.” “Good Job Dad!” “Go faster Dad, this is too slow!” “Get out of the way! Get out of the road everybody!” Its pretty funny.  I get all kinds of comments from ski patrol, mountain hosts, and the public about what a good idea it is to ski down like this.  I see other parents trying to hold their kids or skiing backwards.  Looks hard on the back and puts you in all kinds of odd positions.  The hockey pole is the way to go.  We also have great conversations on the lift “Dad, I think on this lift we are safe from monsters.”

Here is a movie from last week – shows all the kids hauling pretty good.  We can ski all day and carry good speed.  I actually feel like I get a good day of skiing with them, I don’t feel bored or unfulfilled.  We can go fast enough to keep things interesting.

Good video from today.  As stated, the kids are very interested in the freestyle terrain parks.  They decided to go over the PVC tables.  Svea eats it right away.  Soren totally does the splits.  Liv makes it thanks to the hockey stick.  Ashley didn’t get it on video, but we hit the next table downslope and it had a 2’ drop off the end.  Liv made it and right away “I want to do it again!”.  Soren hit one of the jumps on the terrain park and estimated he got “about 10 seconds of air.”  Think about that – its pretty good!

So, when is it time to go home?  Today Liv fell asleep on the lift going up around 2:45.  When we got to the top we skied off the lift and she cried and fell asleep right there on the top of the run.
She was not waking up – done at the top of the mountain.  I picked her up and skied all the way down with her in my arms.  Ski patrol got next to me “Dad, do you need any help?” “No, she just decided it was time to fall asleep, I can make it.”  Everyone down the hill “Is your daughter asleep?” “Yep”.  I even put her down to rest my arms and picked her back up she didn’t budge.  I made it all the way down, didn’t wait for the rest of the family and laid her on the ground.  She didn’t wake up.  A Japanese family stopped right next to me and took a bunch of pictures.  They thought that was funny.
New experience in the “fill them up and knock them out” daily goal.  Didn’t think it would be in the middle of the activity.
Again – we are sold.  Soren thanks me for bringing him every time we go.  I always wondered what I would use to relate to my daughters.  When they are in high school what activity would we have that we could do together?  Not fly fishing (maybe?), but it looks like it will be skiing.  It has been well worth the money and it makes dealing with things at work worth it.  I came home from work on Friday night and said “I made it to ski day!”